Method and system for individual cattlem management

Abstract

A computerized system and method that predicts individual steer or heifer feed requirements to compute daily or end of period cost of weight gain, feed efficiency, and carcass composition and to allocate feed fed to a pen of animals to the individuals in that pen on a biological basis, considering differences known to affect requirements (breed type, body size, stage and rate of growth). The method includes predicting the daily feed requirement and feed efficiency (or feed conversion) for an individual animal taking into account genotype, stage of growth and environmental differences, and predicting substantially optimum number of days to achieve finished weight final results and daily weight gain for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for managing the individual feeding of cattle, the method comprising the step of: 
 (a) predicting a daily feed requirement for an individual animal taking into account genotype, diet, and environmental differences; and,    (b) predicting a daily weight gain of the individual animal.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of: 
 repeating steps (a) and (b) until a target finished body weight is substantially reached.  
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising the step of: 
 predicting number of days to achieve a target finished body weight for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences.  
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising the step of: 
 predicting performance information for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences;  
 wherein the performance information comprises feed intake, and feed efficiency.  
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of: 
 predicting carcass weight from the finished weight.  
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of: 
 predicting daily and accumulated feed cost.  
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of: 
 adjusting the predicted daily feed requirement until predicted daily gain substantially equals actual daily gain.  
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of predicting the daily feed requirement for the individual animal further comprises the steps of: 
 calculating an empty body fat percentage for the individual animal taking into account individual animal characteristics; and  
 calculating an adjusted shrunk body weight of the individual animal.  
 
     
     
         9 . A system for managing the individual feeding of cattle, the system comprising: 
 at least one processor; and,    at least one computer readable memory having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code capable of causing the at least one processor to: 
 obtain the daily feed requirement for an individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences, and  
 obtain a daily weight gain of the individual animal;  
 input means for providing input data to the at least one processor;  
 output means for obtaining output data from the at least one processor.  
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the at least one processor to: 
 repeatedly obtain the daily feed requirement for an individual animal taking into account genotype, diet, and environmental differences, and the daily weight gain until a finished weight is reached.  
 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the at least one processor to: 
 predict number of days to achieve a target finished body weight for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences.  
 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the at least one processor to: 
 predict performance information for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences;  
 wherein the performance information comprises feed intake, and feed efficiency.  
 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the at least one processor to: 
 predict carcass weight from the finished weight.  
 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the at least one processor to: 
 predict saving in feed cost.  
 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 8  further comprising: 
 means for remote access and distributed processing.  
 
     
     
         16 . A computer program product comprising: 
 a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code capable of causing a computer system to: 
 obtain a daily feed requirement for an individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences; and,  
 obtain a daily weight gain of the individual animal.  
   
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 16  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the computer system to: 
 repeatedly obtain the daily feed requirement for an individual animal taking into account genotype, diet, and environmental differences, and predicting a daily weight gain until a finished weight is reached.  
 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the computer system to: 
 predict number of days to achieve a target finished body weight for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences.  
 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 18  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the computer system to: 
 predict performance information for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences;  
 wherein the performance information comprises feed intake, and feed efficiency.  
 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 18  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the computer system to: 
 predict carcass weight from the finished body weight.  
 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 16  wherein the computer readable code is further capable of causing the computer system to: 
 predict saving in feed amount and cost.  
 
     
     
         22 . A system for managing the individual feeding of cattle comprising: 
 means for predicting a daily feed requirement for an individual animal taking into account genotype, diet, and environmental differences; and,    means for predicting a daily weight gain for the individual animal.    
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22  further comprising: 
 means for repeatedly predicting the daily feed requirement for an individual animal taking into account genotype, diet, and environmental differences, and the daily weight gain until a finished body weight is reached.  
 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23  further comprising: 
 means for predicting number of days to achieve a target finished body weight for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences;  
 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24  further comprising: 
 means for predicting performance information for the individual animal taking into account genotype and environmental differences;  
 wherein the performance information comprises feed intake, and feed efficiency.  
 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 22  further comprising: 
 means for adjusting the predicted daily feed requirement until predicted daily gain substantially equals actual daily gain.  
 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 22  further comprising: 
 means for predicting daily and accumulated feed cost.